mpdPup - Simplified MPD Music Server/Jukebox - v0.9.3

For talk and support relating specifically to Puppy derivatives
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ldolse
Posts: 367
Joined: Fri 23 Oct 2009, 16:33

Re: Mac SMB share

#226 Post by ldolse »

juliocat wrote:Great sound!!!!!!!!! is just fantastic, congrats.

I just have one problem, i can't point my music directory to my Mac SMB shared folder, is this posible??
for now i'm using a NTFS usb disc, is exFat support planned??
Hi Juliocat, glad you like it. Regarding SMB, Apple broke SMB sharing when they released OSX Lion. They dropped the open source Samba project and replaced it with their own proprietary implementation. Unfortunately this implementation only seems to work with recent Windows Operating systems and nothing else. In order to get SMB working again you need to install Samba - unfortunately this is not at all easy, but there are a number of tutorials on how to get it done.

I'll look int exFAT, if someone else has written a driver for it then it should be doable.
kocozze wrote:the location of music directory is already /mnt/music. I don't know why mpd don't autostart at boot-up. There's another way to do this?
You're going to need to give me a lot more information then, MPD is supposed to start automatically. Let me know why you think it isn't running, how long you're waiting, and what exactly you're doing to make it start. If it's not running try typing this:

Code: Select all

/etc/init.d/20.mpd start

kocozze wrote:For the shutdown with power button, at the new reboot mpdpup says "Improper shutdown..." and several rows of warnings. At the end it says "File system chek completed...press enter to reboot"
It no looks good!!
These messages don't matter, you can ignore them - it's just some Puppy Linux error checking that is inapplicable to mpdPup, at some point I need to remove it.

juliocat
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue 19 Feb 2013, 18:05

#227 Post by juliocat »

Thanks Idolse

I do a search about Samba in OSX Lion, and yes apples replace it with his own implementation, but someone has already do a simple application to reinstall open samba, the application is very good and works!!!

http://eduo.info/apps/smbup

Magellan
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue 06 Mar 2012, 09:53

#228 Post by Magellan »

Hi again folks.
I have been running MPDpup for some time now and I think it is just excellent. Now I am going to buy a new minimal PC and use this PC for MPDpup and music only.

The problem is this. I have found an very nice Atom driven PC, consuming just about 6 watt. Problem is I want to disable USB ports not in use, since I have read somewhere the USB:s ought to be reserved for the DAC - without anything else disturbing this connection. Unfortunately the PC don´t accept Compact Flash or SD cards. (Only miniSD, which are almost gone from market). An alternative would be to install a SSD, but it is kind of overkill I think, and it requires an permanent harddisc install. I could use a SATA to Compact Flash adapter, but it will almost be the same cost as a small SSD.

Any recommendations?

I also want a low power overhead, and I don´t know if there is any difference between an SSD and an adapter with an CF. Do anybody else know?

If installing an SSD, is the TRIM issue anything I have to take concern off, or does it not matter due to the small amounts of data written?

Thanks in advance

ldolse
Posts: 367
Joined: Fri 23 Oct 2009, 16:33

#229 Post by ldolse »

Hi Magellan, CF-SATA adapters are $15 bucks USD on Newegg. $10 more for a new CF card. Smallest SSD runs around $50 there, but could be cheaper sources. The SSD will definitely get you faster boot times, but not much else for the extra dough. Not sure what the power difference would be, both should be quite low. For the price difference I'd probably go with the SSD if I was assembling a system today, just because I could also check out the claims about SSD vs. NAS on audio quality.

I don't think you need to worry about TRIM, writing to disk is extremely infrequent.

Magellan
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue 06 Mar 2012, 09:53

#230 Post by Magellan »

ldolse wrote:Hi Magellan, CF-SATA adapters are $15 bucks USD on Newegg. $10 more for a new CF card. Smallest SSD runs around $50 there, but could be cheaper sources. The SSD will definitely get you faster boot times, but not much else for the extra dough. Not sure what the power difference would be, both should be quite low. For the price difference I'd probably go with the SSD if I was assembling a system today, just because I could also check out the claims about SSD vs. NAS on audio quality.

I don't think you need to worry about TRIM, writing to disk is extremely infrequent.
Thanks. By the way. Are there anyway I could donate to you for your work with MPD-pup?

Magellan
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue 06 Mar 2012, 09:53

#231 Post by Magellan »

[quote="ldolse"For the price difference I'd probably go with the SSD if I was assembling a system today, just because I could also check out the claims about SSD vs. NAS on audio quality.
[/quote]
I am rather skeptical about the idea that onboard storage would be better than NAS. But this is just my guess. I suspect the complete absence of a hard disc makes a better improvement since you then get rid of the electrical activity generated by the traffic to and from SSD. Anyway, here is some thoughts written on the subject. Observe it is recommended to put the HD outside the computer and fed by its own power supply. It is about a traditional HD though, not an SSD Se #10. http://www.cicsmemoryplayer.com/index.p ... P.Headless

ldolse
Posts: 367
Joined: Fri 23 Oct 2009, 16:33

#232 Post by ldolse »

No hard disk is logic I've always subscribed to as well, but after seeing several users claim to hear a difference I must admit some mild curiousity. Not enough curiousity to run out and buy a SSD, but I also want to simplify the Puppy Linux install scripts for internal hard disk/SSD, so testing is another excuse :D

As to donations, I appreicate the offer. I'm not really in this for any money, but I can also see value in a donation kitty for to fund new equipment for testing purposes, I'll think about how to go about it.
Last edited by ldolse on Thu 21 Feb 2013, 17:48, edited 1 time in total.

jrling
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed 27 Jun 2012, 13:51

#233 Post by jrling »

Re SSD - I may be completely wrong technically, but surely:
Once the Linux OS has loaded (into RAM) and if you use 100% load into memory setting in mpd.config
both mpdPup and your Playlist are fully loaded into RAM and so the SSD will not be accessed at all whilst music is actually playing?
That is my experience anyway, as I can see that my SSD (with music library on it) never is accessed during play as it has a red light that flashes when it is reading or writing - and it deosn't.
Further, I thought one could actually take the Linux OS USB stick out of its USB socket once booted without affecting anything? Only required if you have your Save file set to be on the USB stick?

I too would be pleased to donate towards ldolse getting an SSD (for testing purpose!)

Jonathan

luisb
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun 30 Sep 2012, 13:52

#234 Post by luisb »

Put me on the list
Luis

ldolse
Posts: 367
Joined: Fri 23 Oct 2009, 16:33

#235 Post by ldolse »

jrling wrote:Re SSD - I may be completely wrong technically, but surely:
Once the Linux OS has loaded (into RAM) and if you use 100% load into memory setting in mpd.config
both mpdPup and your Playlist are fully loaded into RAM and so the SSD will not be accessed at all whilst music is actually playing?
That is my experience anyway, as I can see that my SSD (with music library on it) never is accessed during play as it has a red light that flashes when it is reading or writing - and it deosn't.
Further, I thought one could actually take the Linux OS USB stick out of its USB socket once booted without affecting anything? Only required if you have your Save file set to be on the USB stick?
The OS itself is loaded 100% in RAM - provided your music library isn't on the USB stick you could indeed remove it from the system after bootup. Doing that would also restrict you from updating the MPD database or using albumber or mpd-sima (updates to those files are written to disk automatically). The mpd.conf setting only loads 100% of whatever your buffer is set to, not your complete playlist. I'm not sure if the 100% setting will buffer multiple tracks if for example you set a 700 meg buffer for 80 minutes of CD quality audio. I'll have to do some more testing with it, my new NAS provides network monitoring which might help clear up the behavior.

Appreciate the additional donation offers - will update everyone when I figure out a workable system - pledgie might do the trick.

kocozze
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed 07 Nov 2012, 19:49

mpd autostart

#236 Post by kocozze »

kocozze wrote:
the location of music directory is already /mnt/music. I don't know why mpd don't autostart at boot-up. There's another way to do this?

Idolse:
You're going to need to give me a lot more information then, MPD is supposed to start automatically. Let me know why you think it isn't running, how long you're waiting, and what exactly you're doing to make it start. If it's not running try typing this:
Code:
/etc/init.d/20.mpd start

Hi Idolse, i type your code but nothing is changed. Mpd don't start automatically at boot-up:
- don't appears "starting mpd"
-when i try to connect mpdroid it says "server not running and reachable..."
-when i type "mpd", all is fine

ldolse
Posts: 367
Joined: Fri 23 Oct 2009, 16:33

#237 Post by ldolse »

Hi Kocozze, are you definitely running 0.9.3 or 0.9.3a? The older version 0.9.2 had an issue on some platforms which didn't like launching mpd with 'nice'. I removed this logic in 0.9.3.


For other interested parties, I did some experimenting with MPD's buffer today. It seems to me that there may be a bug which prevents buffers larger than ~120,000 KB to be specified, if I specify 130000 and above I get an MPD error.
Anyway 120,000 KB is around 13-14 minutes of CD quality audio. I set a buffer fill of 2% - I personally don't like 100% because this breaks Internet Radio and makes it slow to switch between albums/tracks.

Here's what I discovered:
  • MPD only keeps the current and next track in the buffer
  • First and Second track are buffered on initial playback
  • Next track is buffered at the very beginning of each track
The above was based on interpreting network/disk activity graphs on my NAS - to confirm this 100% I unplugged the network from the MPD machine after buffering for track 4 was completed (but before track 3 had finished playback). MPD completed playing track 3 and moved along to track 4 with no problem. I restored the network around halfway through track 4 and MPD picked right up and immediately buffered track 5.

I also tested with the buffer fill set to 100% - the biggest difference in that case was that you would need to wait until the first track (and possibly the second) was fully loaded into memory before playback actually began. The graphs more or less looked the same.
Attachments
MPD_Buffering.png
MPD Network Behavior, 12000K buffer.
(52.89 KiB) Downloaded 351 times

kocozze
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed 07 Nov 2012, 19:49

#238 Post by kocozze »

Hi Idolse, i have the version 0.9.3a...

jrling
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed 27 Jun 2012, 13:51

#239 Post by jrling »

Looking back at various postings on WaveIO issues:
===============================================
Sounds like you're running into the same unmute issue. It's not WaveIO specific actually, it could affect a number of different components, it's just most common with the WaveIO. The root cause is that devices with a space in the name aren't unmuted.

There is one small issue remaining – the waveIO is not detected by pup unless it is powered up after the mpdpup is started . The mute issue was fixed as per post 2 and stays OK.

I don't have any idea if this is an Linux problem or a problem with the WaveIO itself.
===============================================

ldolse - I wondered if:
1. You had any further findings on the boot up problem that I have with WaveIO? Similar to described above?
2. If the fact that the WaveIO has a space in its name could also be responsible for erratic boot behaviour as well the 'Unmute' issue?
3. Is there any permanent way of fixing removing the space in the name in a config file or programmatically, that might fix one or both issues?

Clearly quite a few of your users are running with WaveIO - not surprising as it is really good and inexpensive.

ldolse
Posts: 367
Joined: Fri 23 Oct 2009, 16:33

#240 Post by ldolse »

I think I know the cause - kocozze, when you said you installed to the hard drive, do you know what type of install you did? I'm wondering if you did a full install instead of a Frugal install. If you did this you're not running in a read-only RAM environment, you're running in a full Linux install.

Please type this command at the CLI:

Code: Select all

grep 'PUPMODE=' /etc/rc.d/PUPSTATE
Let me know what it says. It should say 13, but if you did a full install it would give you a different number. My recommendation would be to install frugally, but you could also edit the startup script:

Code: Select all

nano /etc/init.d/20.mpd
Change the number 13 to whatever number was displayed with the first command.

@Jonathan, this isn't related to the WaveIO problem - although he did have a related issue before I believe we've moved past that. I have a fix for that issue, but it needs to wait until the next release.

Magellan
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue 06 Mar 2012, 09:53

#241 Post by Magellan »

ldolse wrote:Hi Kocozze, are you definitely running 0.9.3 or 0.9.3a? The older version 0.9.2 had an issue on some platforms which didn't like launching mpd with 'nice'. I removed this logic in 0.9.3.


For other interested parties, I did some experimenting with MPD's buffer today. It seems to me that there may be a bug which prevents buffers larger than ~120,000 KB to be specified, if I specify 130000 and above I get an MPD error.
Anyway 120,000 KB is around 13-14 minutes of CD quality audio. I set a buffer fill of 2% - I personally don't like 100% because this breaks Internet Radio and makes it slow to switch between albums/tracks.

Here's what I discovered:
  • MPD only keeps the current and next track in the buffer
  • First and Second track are buffered on initial playback
  • Next track is buffered at the very beginning of each track
The above was based on interpreting network/disk activity graphs on my NAS - to confirm this 100% I unplugged the network from the MPD machine after buffering for track 4 was completed (but before track 3 had finished playback). MPD completed playing track 3 and moved along to track 4 with no problem. I restored the network around halfway through track 4 and MPD picked right up and immediately buffered track 5.

I also tested with the buffer fill set to 100% - the biggest difference in that case was that you would need to wait until the first track (and possibly the second) was fully loaded into memory before playback actually began. The graphs more or less looked the same.
I tried the same, increased the buffer, but I can't hear any sonic change - not worse, but not better either.

kocozze
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed 07 Nov 2012, 19:49

#242 Post by kocozze »

Idolse wrote:
I think I know the cause - kocozze, when you said you installed to the hard drive, do you know what type of install you did? I'm wondering if you did a full install instead of a Frugal install. If you did this you're not running in a read-only RAM environment, you're running in a full Linux install.

Please type this command at the CLI:
Code:
grep 'PUPMODE=' /etc/rc.d/PUPSTATE
Let me know what it says. It should say 13, but if you did a full install it would give you a different number. My recommendation would be to install frugally, but you could also edit the startup script:
Code:
nano /etc/init.d/20.mpd
Change the number 13 to whatever number was displayed with the first command.

Kocozze: ok, I've installed in full mode, the PUPSTATE say 2, not 13. I've changed the number in 20.mpd and now it works fine!!! :D
A last question: you say that the error warnings at the restart of mpdpup after shutdown with power button is normal, and i believe this, but at the end of the rows of warning messages mpdpup ask me every time to reboot the system (pratically i must restart twice!). Is normal still this? :oops:

lugili
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun 24 Feb 2013, 21:07

Access Synology NAS

#243 Post by lugili »

Hi all,
I have been roaming around a lot here but had no time to try mpdpup until now. Great job!

Although I do run into a problem. My Synology NAS can only easily be accessed with SSH (I found this http://www.druhosting.com/content/synol ... root-users) if you login as root. When I try to fill in user = root in the setup wizard and then the password, the mpd server seems not to be able to connect. Also existing usernames on the NAS with passwords do not seem to work (as expected reading the link). If I leave the user name empty and just fill in a password (assuming this is the right way to enter root) the wizard seems to take the password as the user name- which also does not work.

I can ssh the NAS from my ubuntu computer as root without problem.

Anyone encountered this problem, or, what am I missing? What does the wizard exactly do with the information that I enter regarding user/password?

Hope this is understandable.

Thanks for help.
lugili

Magellan
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue 06 Mar 2012, 09:53

Re: Access Synology NAS

#244 Post by Magellan »

lugili wrote:Hi all,
I have been roaming around a lot here but had no time to try mpdpup until now. Great job!

Although I do run into a problem. My Synology NAS can only easily be accessed with SSH (I found this http://www.druhosting.com/content/synol ... root-users) if you login as root. When I try to fill in user = root in the setup wizard and then the password, the mpd server seems not to be able to connect. Also existing usernames on the NAS with passwords do not seem to work (as expected reading the link). If I leave the user name empty and just fill in a password (assuming this is the right way to enter root) the wizard seems to take the password as the user name- which also does not work.

I can ssh the NAS from my ubuntu computer as root without problem.

Anyone encountered this problem, or, what am I missing? What does the wizard exactly do with the information that I enter regarding user/password?

Hope this is understandable.

Thanks for help.
lugili
I ran into the same problem with my Synology NAS. I was going to switch from one NAS to the Synology NAS. The other NAS, a LaCie, never came up with the same problem. I gave it up for the moment and stayed with the LaCie, but I would be ahppy for an explanation what this is about.

ldolse
Posts: 367
Joined: Fri 23 Oct 2009, 16:33

#245 Post by ldolse »

kocozze wrote:A last question: you say that the error warnings at the restart of mpdpup after shutdown with power button is normal, and i believe this, but at the end of the rows of warning messages mpdpup ask me every time to reboot the system (pratically i must restart twice!). Is normal still this? :oops:
You're running in an unsupported mode (full install), nothing you are doing is normal :D . That said, it's to be expected in your case. Because you are running a full install those error messages are completely legitimate (and quite accurate) - every time you power off abruptly or use the reset button you are corrupting your filesystem, so it needs to be repaired.

Not trying to blame you, my fault for not documenting your installation method, and I really do need to update the stock Puppy install wizards to prevent people from selecting this option. Anyway my recommendation would be to reinstall using frugal instead when you get a chance, but for now just try to poweroff cleanly from the CLI with the poweroff or reboot command.
Last edited by ldolse on Mon 25 Feb 2013, 05:22, edited 4 times in total.

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